Maria Chan Oral History Interview and Transcript
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Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA) Chao Center for Asian Studies, Rice University Interviewee: Maria Chan Interviewer: Ann Shi Date of Interview: 7/29/2020 Transcribed by: Ann Shi, Sonia He Edited by: Kelly Liao Audio Track Time: 1:18:28 Background: Maria Chan was born in Hong Kong to a businessman father and a homemaker mother. She has two brothers, and they grew up in the Mid-Levels in Hong Kong Island. She studied in MaryKnoll Sisters School, which was run by American nuns of Dominican order. Influenced by her favorite teacher in Geography, she went onto studying Geography and Geology in University of Hong Kong from 1960-63; and after that, obtained a Diploma of Education for teaching senior high school. During these times, she represented Hong Kong in the Uber Cup competition, which is the Women’s International Badminton Competition back then, which is equivalent to World Cup today, in three games: - 1956 Hong Kong vs. Malaya (now Malaysia) - 1959 Hong Kong vs. Malaya - 1962 Hong Kong vs. India In university, she continued to participate in Inter-Varsity competition against Singapore and Malaysia, and was the Sports Captain of Duchess of Kent Hall of Hong Kong University; she was also a member of the Legion of Mary. After obtaining her BA degree and Diploma of Education in 1964, she taught for three years in St Paul’s Co-educational College as a senior high school geography teacher. She fondly spoke of how many students of hers back then still kept in touch and are friends with her till today. In 1967, she got married to the page boy at a wedding where she was the flower girl during their childhood, in London, Ontario, Canada. After marriage and the immigration, she became a homemaker devoted to her new family; her busy husband developed his career to become an internal medicine resident physician. The couple moved from London, Ontario to St. Louis, Missouri, to Nashville Tennessee, and finally, Houston, TX, where they’ve been living till now. They have one daughter and one son, both Ivy League graduates. Setting: The interview was taken over the telephone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key: MC: Maria Chan AS: Ann Shi —: speech cuts off; abrupt stop …: speech trails off; pause Italics: emphasis (?): preceding word may not be accurate [Brackets]: actions (laughs, sighs, etc.) Interview transcript: AS: Today's July 29, 2020. My name is Ann Shi and I'm with the Houston Asian American Archive. Here with us today is Maria Chan, who's originally from Hong Kong. And thank you so much, Ms. Chan, for letting us take your oral history interview. MC: You're welcome. 1 AS: So to start, can you tell us when and where were you born? MC: I was born in Hong Kong. Mm hmm. AS: And what was like the favorite childhood memory of yours? MC: My childhood memory... Just playing on the streets with marbles. I didn’t remember much about that. That was really young. [AS: Yeah.] Play with my brothers. Yeah. AS: Great. How–how many siblings do you have? MC: I have two brothers, one older brother, one younger brother. AS: And are they both in–in the United States or they're still in Hong Kong? MC: I—they are both in United States. One is a retired engineer in San Francisco area. And the other one is a professor at MIT. AS: Oh, wow. That's very impressing. And what kind of neighborhood was your childhood, if you remember? MC: We were, we were at mid-level Hong Kong on the mountain, we're at the Mid-Levels. So it's a quiet area. So we really had a good environment. AS: I see. Do you mind asking me asking? What–what your parents' occupations were? MC: Oh, wow, my–my father is a businessman. And my mother is a housewife. AS: I see. And what was the, say, favorite game that you and your brothers play together? MC: Oh, like I say. We played badminton. Yeah, we belonged to a club. And my parents also played. That's why we–we followed. so my older brother and I, and the younger brother, he played soccer. So, yeah, we participated. We were deeply involved in badminton. AS: That's great. Yeah, I read your very impressing resume that you had like, yeah, very great level of achievement in badminton. Can you share a little bit about that? MC: I started badminton when I was in the teens and I competed in the Hong Kong Badminton Association Competitions. So gradually I won the Trivia1 Cup, and then the Senior Cup. Because I'm tiny, I'm not tall. I participated mainly in doubles and mixed doubles. So like I got [the Hong Kong] championship. And then like, I got selected to represent Hong Kong in the Uber Cup, which is the all England ladies Cup. It is equivalent to the World Cup nowadays. And we played, I have participated in three World Cups competitions. One is in 1950...1952? No, 1956! One is in 1959. And the other time is 1962. ‘56 is Hong Kong against Malaysia; and then ‘59 is Hong Kong against Singapore, we went over there. And then 1962 was vs. India. AS: Wow. That's amazing. Do you still get excited when you remember those experiences being, yeah, a competitive athlete? 1 The interviewee indicates this should be the Junior Cup instead. 2 MC: Um, I enjoyed it until the pressure was too great. [AS: Hmm.] So when I went to college when I went to university, I only, only play in the university. I only play singles there because there was not too much competition there. So it was just for fun. But because of too much pressure, and my parents are like, my stage parents, they analyze every game after I came back, and it became too much pressure for me, so I dropped it. Yeah. AS: I see. Yeah, I can definitely understand. So back in the day when you were in school, what's your favorite subject? MC: Oh, geography. That's why I went to... especially I love the teacher. I don't know this is a good reason to major in it but I really love the teacher. AS: I see. And which junior high and high school did you go to? MC: Ah junior... Elementary, I went to a school named Ying Wa Girls School. All girls. And then in high school I went to Maryknoll Sisters School, which is an American nun school, Dominican nun from New York, run by them. AS: I see. Were they religious schools? MC: Yes, yeah. Catholic. Yeah. And yeah, so I got–I got baptized. Yeah. And I got my name there because I don't have an American name. So they cannot say my Chinese name. So they let me choose— Maria, Marie, Mary. Yeah, so, I chose Maria. [AS: Yeah. Wow. And—] [I was baptized there too.] AS: Yeah, I forgot to ask, what is your Chinese name? [MC: Yuen Yue.] Does it have, like a meaning behind the name? MC: I think beautiful, beautiful jade or something I... yeah, something beautiful. I don't know what it is. AS: So do you still write and speak Cantonese? MC: Yes, I do. Writing I tend to forget now. Nowadays we don't write, we just call. Yeah, of course I read all of them, but sometimes I forget how to write the words. And I understand some Mandarin. AS: That's great. [MC: Yeah.] So in your college experience in University of Hong Kong, what kind of clubs or activities, or your memorable experiences you had? MC: Oh, well, of course I joined the badminton club. And also I was the sports captain of Duchess of Kent Hall, which is a dorm. And then I also joined the Legion of Mary, which is a Catholic prayer, prayer group and visitation too. AS: That's great. And did you immediately move to the US after you graduated? Or did you start a career in Hong Kong as well? MC: No, I taught school for three years. And then, and then I moved to Canada. I was going to pursue my Masters in town planning in University of Toronto, where I was supposed to be a, a teaching assistant. [AS: Right.] And then my–my husband was in London, Ontario. So then I thought about it. I said, "Well, it's difficult running between two cities." So I quit my master's degree and went to London after I married. AS: Great. And did you and your husband meet in Hong Kong? 3 MC: Yes. Actually, a long story. We met when we were kids. We were... he was a page boy and I was a flower girl in a wedding. [AS: Oh, wow. That was so... so cute.] Yeah. And then later on that he was in the same school, Jesuit School with my younger brother. So he was my younger brother's godfather. So when we were in college, I met him again in Legion of Mary. He also belonged to Legion of Mary. So we, we met again. AS: That's great. So your parents know each other's parents. [MC: Yeah.] I see. [MC: Yeah.] Great. And so after you moved to London, Ontario first, what did you do? And what was the experiences like first moving to a different country and being away from like parents and all the familiarity? MC: Okay, I went to London and then and then I said, “Okay, I'll find myself a job,” and I worked in the library temporarily, doing a, tracing lost books, and stacked some books.